Posts from the ‘Civic Engagement News’ Category

Our recent 2018 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Meeting in Anaheim, Calif., brought together a great group of faculty, students, administrators, community partners and representatives from our national sponsor and partner organizations committed to advancing civic learning and democratic engagement through higher education.

Read on for highlights of our time together.

By The Numbers

536 participants representing 181 colleges and universities as well as 52 other organizations.

Since the publication of the A Crucible Moment report in 2012, many higher education professionals have engaged further in the CLDE field in the hopes of fulfilling the vision laid out by our colleagues to create a more socially just, civically engaged, and democratically-minded future. With this inspiration, colleagues have been engaging in the development of a framework to support our work as civic educators. This framework is based on a four question model and has been derived from work at the annual CLDE meeting and through the networks of the NASPA LEAD Initiative, AASCU’s American Democracy Project, and The Democracy Commitment. This framework builds on the components of A Crucible Moment in how are these threads — civic ethos, civic literacy and skill building, civic inquiry, civic action, and civic agency — actualized on our campuses and outside of the campus community. Throughout CLDE18 conference attendees explored the four question framework and how we can explore and enact a thriving democracy. For more information about the CLDE Theory of Change visit here.

Social Media Use at CLDE18

Using the social media tracking software (NUVI), Illinois State University’s Social Media Analytics Command Center (SMACC) identified the following trends associated with the 2018 CLDE conference:

Highlights

Between June 6 and June 9, there were 1,192 social mentions using the conference hashtag #CLDE18. 1,1147 posts came from Twitter, 42 from Instagram, and 3 from Tumblr.

221 unique authors contributed to the overall conversation, producing an average of 12 posts per hour for the duration of the conference.

The #CLDE18 conversation was viral. Of the 1,192 mentions using the #CLDE18 hashtag, 221 were from unique authors capable of reaching a combined potential of audience of 66,050 other social media users. 608 posts were shares of from these original contributors, and spread to an additional potential audience of 735,068 social media users. Taken together, public mentions about #CLDE18 had the potential to be viewed by more than 800,000 social media users.

The peak of the conversation occurred on June 9, during the closing plenary (347 mentions), and included the following keywords: “free speech,” “civic engagement,” “spectator sport,” “hate speech,” and “young leaders.”

Social media users participating in the conversation represented 31 states and the District of Columbia. Of the accounts that geotagged their posts or listed a location in their profile description, 33 were from California, 19 from Washington, D.C., 9 from Pennsylvania, 8 from Florida, 8 from Illinois, 8 from Massachusetts, 8 from Maryland, 7 from Indiana, 7 from New Jersey, and 6 from Virginia.

Social Network Analysis

The following graph presents a visual representation of the #CLDE18 Twitter conversation in terms of how accounts retweeted or mentioned each other when using the conference hashtag. The map is coded as follows: colors indicate affinity groups or clusters of Twitter accounts that had a significant number of connections in common. The size of the accounts on the map correlates with the overall number of connections – the larger the node, the more connections it had. Arrows pointing to an account indicate that account was being retweeted or mentioned. Arrows originating from an account indicate that account was retweeting or mentioning another account. Thicker arrows indicate more frequent retweets or mentions between the two accounts.

This report was prepared by the Social Media Analytics Command Center (SMACC) housed in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. For more information about the SMACC contact Dr. Nathan Carpenter, Director of Convergent Media (njcarpe@ilstu.edu).

Pre-Conference highlights:

The 2017 CLDE Meeting opened with seven pre-conference sessions that engaged participants in a variety of important civic learning and democratic engagement topics. Participants were invited to take part in one or both of a pair of popular Educational Testing Service (ETS)- sponsored Civic Engagement Assessment Pre-Conference Workshopsfocused on planning for institution-wide data collection and measuring civic outcomes during college, respectively titled Making Assessment Work for You: Strategies to Bring Meaning to your Civic Engagement Efforts and Civic Engagement Assessment: From Mission Statements to Meanings and Measures.

The Student Pre-Conference Workshop was organized for students, by students. Led by the 2018 CLDE Student Intern Team (Vera Barcega-Ramirez, student, College of the Canyons (Calif.); Hannah Jackson, student, University of Nevada, Reno (Nev.); Collin Sullivan, student, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Md), the session introduced students to #CLDEStudents / @CLDEStudents and provided a space to discuss issues focused on being an active participant in local and national communities, and introduced students tools to be effective activists in their communities.

Some of the more than 100 students that participated in #CLDE18

Opening Plenary & First Day highlights:

Participants had the opportunity to participate in a sponsored lunch, Ace the Midterms: TurboVote’s 2018 Voter Engagement Symposium, organized by our friends at TurboVote, provided an interactive symposium on what it takes to engaged student voters in not one, but all of their elections.

George L. Mehaffy, Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change, AASCU welcomed participants to Anaheim and reminded us that the most important office in our democracy is that of citizen. Three CivEd talks then kicked off Thursday afternoon’s opening plenary session. These three, short, dynamic and fast-paced presentations by members of the civic learning and democratic engagement community inspired and challenged our collective imagination and thinking. The talks were given by: Clare Cady, Director of Community Engagement, Temple University (Pa.) & Founder/Director, College and University Food Bank Alliance, Sian Proctor, Geology Professor, South Mountain Community College (Az.), and Joel Pérez, Vice President and Dean of Students/Title IX Coordinator, Whittier College (Calif.).

Friday highlights:

Friday morning participants started their day with a A Roadtrip to Civic Engagement. This session — offered in conjunction with our friends at the Roadtrip Nation — explored their storytelling model and how it can be utilized to explore our own civic pathways. This fireside chat included a discussion between Kevin Kruger, president, NASPA, Verdis L. Robinson, national director, The Democracy Commitment, AASCU, and Mike Marriner, co-founder, Roadtrip Nation.A message from Roadtrip Nation:

Roadtrip Nation was thrilled to be part of the CLDE conference in Anaheim.

As we increase our efforts into supporting Higher Education at the institutional level, Roadtrip Nation is currently identifying a core group of institutions to partner with, particularly around licensing our archive of thousands of career exploration interviews to benefit student, and our unique alumni engagement platform.

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: THE CIVIC IMPERATIVE FOR LEARNING ABOUT AND ENGAGING WITHIN OUR LOCAL HABITATS PRESENTERS: Chris Hutchison, assistant dean of students, Chapman University (Calif.) Sian Proctor, geology professor, South Mountain Community College (Ariz.)

FOUR CORNERS AND FOUR MOVES: NEW APPROACHES TO MEDIA LITERACY PRESENTERS: Michael Caulfield, director of blended and networked learning, Washington State University – Vancouver Gregg Grenier, director of community engagement, Mount Ida College (Mass.)

Saturday highlights:

Our final plenary session on Saturday, Free Speech or Hate Speech? A Cross-Campus Dialogue on Community, Faculty, and Student Activism, which engaged attendees in a timely dialogue about free speech, academic freedom, and inclusive campus environments. The discussion was moderated by Nancy Thomas, Director, Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), Jonathan M. Tisch College for Civic Life at Tufts University (Mass.) while responses were given by Jonathan Alger, President, James Madison University (Va.); Stefan Bradley, Associate Professor and Chair of African American Studies, Loyola Marymount University (Calif.); and Hannah Jackson, CLDE 2018 intern and student, University of Nevada Reno.

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPONSORS

The 2018 CLDE Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. could not have been a success without the continued support from our sponsors. They have shown an unwavering commitment to securing an effective method of fostering democracy. Our sponsors’ contributions were instrumental in creating meaningful dialogue that helped set the agenda for future goals, initiatives and partnerships. We would like to thank the following:

ADP, TDC, and NASPA have deep admiration and gratitude for each organization and the support they provided to the 2018 CLDE Meeting. We look forward to future collaborations

CLDE 2019 Committee

We’re looking for a few volunteers—maybe you?—to serve as thought leaders and planners as we wrestle with how best to convene a meeting intended to generate ideas and energy for tackling some of the biggest issues we face as a democratic society: social and economic injustice; bitter partisanship in our elections and governance; and diminishing funding for higher education, just to name a few. If interested, send your resume and statement of interest to Stephanie King at sking@naspa.org.

CLDE18 Conference Pins

We sold out of the 200 pins designed by Chapman University graphic design student Genevieve Geller ‘20. Proceeds from the beautiful and popular pin will be donated to Project Grow to fund their programs that educate the community about their local environment through hands-on ecological restoration programs. Project Grow is a program of the Tides Center and both are community partners of Chapman University, located near the CLDE18 conference site.

The design of the pin bears the shape of California, the third largest state in the country. The text, Anaheim, CA CLDE 2018, is situated toward Southern California, acknowledging the conference location. The poppies adorning the top of the pin celebrate the California state flower. The blue and green colors of the CLDE conference are complemented by the vibrant orange color of poppy blooms that exist throughout the State.

Program and Conference HandoutsIf a presenter uploaded their materials they can be found in the mobile app and online at http://apps.naspa.org/engage/arch_search.cfm under the 2018 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting. Please email sking@naspa.org with any additional materials you’d like uploaded into the app.

Finally, to see more pictures from the meeting, visit the ADP Facebook Page (CLDE18 album); please send any photos you took to adp@aascu.org so that we can upload them to Facebook/Twitter/Instagram.

Stay in Touch – Contact Information Changes

CLDE18 conference organizers Jen Domagal-Goldman and Verdis Robinson both have new titles and organizations and urge conference participants to keep in touch

ADP

ADP is currently searching for an Executive Director and emails in the meantime should be directed at adp@aascu.org.

Jen Domagal-Goldman (formerly national manager of AASCU’s American Democracy Project)

AASCU and 10 of its member institutions partner to equip college students with the ability to navigate the online news environment

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)—Today, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ American Democracy Project (ADP) announced its new initiative, Digital Polarization: Promoting Online Civic Literacy. Preparing students with the skills to combat digital polarization and fake news is a complex problem. The initiative aims to equip college students with the skills they need for online civic reasoning, and to encourage them to make positive interventions in the online information environments they inhabit.

“What we’ve found is giving students a few simple techniques to verify and investigate the information that comes to them in their daily feeds can make a massive difference,” said Mike Caulfield, ADP’s civic fellow and director of Blended and Networked Learning at Washington State University Vancouver, who will lead the initiative. “The trick is giving students the right skills—skills for 2018, not 1998.” Caulfield has been recognized for his thinking on these issues, both at national conferences and through Hapgood, his long-running blog on educational technology.

Ten AASCU member institutions have been chosen to develop, pilot and assess an online civic literacy curricula on their campuses: Black Hills State University (S.D.); The City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY College of Staten Island (N.Y.); Georgia College (Ga.); Indiana University Kokomo; Metropolitan State University of Denver (Colo.); Millersville University of Pennsylvania; San Jose State University (Calif.); Texas A&M University-Central Texas; University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and Washington State University Vancouver.

In this initiative, students will track, catalog and analyze fake news, while learning deeper truths about polarization, the economics of the web and the psychology of conspiracy theory. The 2016 national election and the current political climate bring into sharp focus questions about facts, news and information. Online platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter have a profound influence on our national discourse, national politics and election processes. Social media is challenging traditional news outlets, calling into question the credibility of traditional reporting and formerly trusted sources of information. Citizens need to find and make sense of the best information available if they are to make the best decisions possible.

Participating campuses will develop, adopt and assess an online civic literacy curricula focused specifically on vetting the information students encounter online. The initiative will incorporate digital polarization and/or civic online information literacy into new and/or existing courses across a variety of disciplines and in co-curricular activities. Such events and offerings might take the form of library orientation events, invited speakers, community panels, professional development trainings, and/or common readings.

“The need for digital fluency has never been more urgent, as our reliance on social media and the internet for news and information only continues to grow. We are confident that this work will help advance student online civic literacy and elevate best practices for teaching digital fluency, while improving our information environments,” said Amanda Antico, executive director of ADP. “The Digital Polarization initiative is a timely solution to a problem that is affecting America’s democratic and civic engagement.”

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The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of more than 400 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions Delivering America’s Promise of Opportunities for All.

AASCU and 12 of its member institutions will partner with the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life to improve student political learning and participation in democracy.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)—Today, the American Democracy Project (ADP), a program of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), announced a new two-year initiative, Assessing and Improving Political Learning and Engagement on Campus. Building on the long-standing programmatic commitment of ADP to preparing informed and politically engaged citizens for our democracy, this initiative aims to improve nonpartisan student political learning and participation.

ADP will partner with the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life on this research-to-practice initiative. Over the course of two years, 12 AASCU campuses will test tools with which to assess campus climates for political learning and engagement. Together, campus teams working with researchers from IDHE will pilot processes for engaging campus communities in measuring, understanding and improving campus climates in order to ensure that all students are prepared to be informed, engaged citizens.

Amanda Antico, executive director of AASCU’s American Democracy Project, notes, “Too few young Americans participate in even the most fundamental forms of civic engagement, such as voting. Unequal participation results in unequal representation. These conditions obstruct our ability as a nation to address and resolve complex social and political problems, which is why this initiative is important and necessary. ADP hopes to educate, inspire and prepare college students for a life of active civic engagement in order to cultivate a more vibrant democracy.”

Twelve AASCU member institutions have been chosen to participate in this initiative: Central State University (Ohio); Fayetteville State University (N.C.); Ferris State University (Mich.); Illinois State University (Ill.); Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (Ind.); James Madison University (Va.); Keene State College (N.H.); Sam Houston State University (Texas); San Francisco State University (Calif.); Stockton University (N.J.); University of Nebraska Omaha (Neb.); and Weber State University (Utah).

According to IDHE Director Nancy Thomas, “Colleges and universities play a critical role in ensuring the health and future of our democracy, and AASCU campuses are on the front line of that work. The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life is proud to be working with AASCU’s American Democracy Project. This critical partnership has implications not just for the participating campuses, but for all colleges and universities.”

Together, ADP, IDHE and the 12 participating campuses will develop a reliable and replicable approach to assessing and changing campus climates for political learning and engagement, as well as a set of interventions for other campuses to use. The campuses will serve as a set of model institutions from which others can learn about how to cultivate campus climates that best prepare students with the necessary knowledge, skills and commitment to political learning and participation.

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The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of more than 400 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions Delivering America’s Promise of Opportunities for All.

The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, serves as a leading venue for research, resources, and advocacy on college student political learning and engagement in democracy. Through research, resource development, and convenings, the Institute strives to inform and shift college and university priorities, practices, and culture to strengthen democracy and advance social and political equity. The only university-wide college of its kind, the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life offers transformational student learning and service opportunities, conducts groundbreaking research on young people’s civic and political participation, and forges innovative community partnerships.

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It is with enormous excitement that we announce theAmerican Democracy Project Campaign and the selection of ADP’s new senior director, Amanda Antico.

The American Democracy Project Campaign undertakes an effort to raise funds to significantly increase American Democracy Project (ADP) activities on AASCU campuses, as we seek to create the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy. Leading this national fund-raising effort are two of ADP’s founders in 2003, Tom Ehrlich and Felice Nudelman, whom many of you know. That fund-raising work is already underway and has already generated impressive results.

The funding that is provided through this national effort will allow us to increase the number of programs and projects that will involve and engage our AASCU campuses, with a special focus on political engagement. Equally important, the fund-raising has allowed us to add to our ADP staff by hiring a new senior director for ADP, who will direct the initiative and manage its growth in the years ahead, along with Jen, me and others. So let us take a moment to introduce our new leader, Amanda Antico.

Early in her career, Amanda Antico co-founded and directed the nonprofit organization, the TLT Group, which focused on teaching, learning, and technology in higher education. In that role, Amanda consulted with more than 700 institutions, and designed and coordinated more than 75 workshops and 10 major national conferences with leaders in academia and educational technology companies.

In more recent years, Amanda has been a consultant, ultimately forming her own consulting firm. In her work, Amanda has guided students who are engaged in their local and state politics. Passionate about encouraging social entrepreneurship, Amanda is particularly interested in educating the next generation to build stronger and more engaging sustainable communities. She has taught courses in organizational development, organizational change, social entrepreneurship, and policy and innovation on both the undergraduate and graduate level at many institutions.

Amanda earned a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Psychology from George Washington University, a Master’s degree in Organizational Learning from George Mason University and a doctorate in social entrepreneurship from George Washington University. Her doctoral research examined how cities and companies use social capital and social networks to build entrepreneurial and innovative communities.

Amanda has used her skills, acumen, passion, and teams to guide a myriad of small business, major CSR efforts, educational institutions and entrepreneurial ventures to success. A proven leader in pioneering movements on campuses that impact global issues, Amanda will bring her combined academic and practitioner mindset to this inaugural role at ADP. She begins her work on January 2, 2018.

These are difficult days for our democracy. Bitter partisanship divides us. Tolerance and respect for the views of others, hallmarks of our democratic way of life, are in short supply. Thoughtful reflection about public policy options are drowned out in a cacophony of angry and sometimes distorted dialogue. Shared beliefs are challenged by partisan perspectives, where truth is sometimes a casualty.

Our republic has seen other difficult times in our past, other enormous challenges. Yet our democracy survived. We believe that democracy will prevail in this era as well but only if we work hard to create a generation of college graduates who understand and have practiced democracy as they have gone thru their undergraduate experience.

Given these difficult times, now more than ever, we need to focus on educating our students to be actively and responsibly engaged in public-policy issues. Our ADP Campaign and the hiring of a new leader for ADP, Amanda Antico, are steps we are taking to move to a new level of programming and impact. We hope you will join us by participating in American Democracy Project activities, both on your own campus and in new national ADP activities that we will be designing and developing.

Thank you for all you have done to support ADP and this vital work. Tom, Felice, Amanda, Jen and I look forward with enormous enthusiasm to the important work that lies ahead.

George and Jen

George L. Mehaffy
Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change
American Association of State Colleges and Universities

Jennifer M. Domagal-Goldman
National Manager, American Democracy Project
American Association of State Colleges and Universities

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FROSTBURG — Frostburg State University has joined the American Democracy Project, a network of more than 250 state colleges and universities focused on public higher education’s role in preparing the next generation of informed, democratically engaged citizens. ADP is a nonpartisan initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in partnership with The New York Times.

FSU was designated a Voter Friendly Campus by the Campus Vote Project for its efforts to engage students in the 2016 election — one of just two Maryland schools named to the list of 83 American campuses. Now FSU is joining a national network to complement existing efforts to engage students in the democratic process.

“ADP is a very good fit with the direction we are moving in — especially the partnership between my office, the J. Glenn Beall Institute and the Student Government Association,” said Patrick O’Brien, director of FSU’s Office of Civic Engagement, which spearheads democratic engagement efforts. “Our three entities have really been working together to get students more engaged in our democracy.”

Participating in ADP will give Frostburg faculty, staff and students access to a national network of peers and resources related to civic learning and community engagement.

“The American Democracy Project will be both a resource and an opportunity for FSU students seeking to grow into future civic leaders,” said SGA President James Kirk. “For many students, college is the period in our lives when we learn the immense value in becoming active and informed citizens, allowing us to witness the positive impacts we can make in our communities.”

Over the past two years, Frostburg’s SGA and the Beall Institute co-sponsored a series of events with O’Brien’s office to encourage engagement with the 2016 election. A campus-wide voter registration drive ensured every eligible student was able to register before the election. Town hall meetings fostered discussion and debate of pressing issues and potential solutions, including a caucus night where students experienced an Iowa-style caucus. Other events included a presidential debate viewing series, debates about foreign and domestic issues and a mock election night.

Participating in ADP will connect Frostburg with resources to boost democratic participation, such as guides to engaging students, online tools to check voter status and facilitate registration, informational webinars, national civic learning and democratic engagement meetings, special days of action and reflection, speaker series and award programs.

“ADP’s values are very much aligned with what Frostburg wants to do with democratic engagement,” said O’Brien.

AASCU founded the American Democracy Project in 2003 to produce college and university graduates with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences needed to be informed, engaged community members. ADP member institutions can be found in 46 states and Washington, D.C.

The American Democracy Project (ADP) is a multi-campus initiative focused on public higher education’s role in preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy. The project began in 2003 as an initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), in partnership with The New York Times.

The goal of the American Democracy Project is to produce graduates who are committed to being knowledgeable, involved citizens in their communities. Since its inception, ADP has hosted 13 national and 18 regional meetings, a national assessment project, and hundreds of campus initiatives including voter education and registration, curriculum revision projects, campus audits, special days of action and reflection, speaker series and many recognition and award programs.